Memories are a funny thing.
For some, moments take on a life of their own. For others, those moments are just a small part of the panorama of their lives.
So it is with Roger Warren, who at the end of 2026 will step down as president of Kiawah Island Golf Resort after 23 years and more than a few hugely significant adventures in professional golf.
Ask him about the first and biggest of those, though, and he claims to have forgotten details from a day I still remember vividly.
In 2003, Kiawah’s Ocean Course hosted the World Cup of Golf, a team competition featuring some of the world’s top players. It was the second World Cup for Kiawah (but Warren’s first) and the third such international competition since 1997 – all of which pale in comparison to the 1991 Ryder Cup, aka “The War by the Shore,” which elevated the biennial competition to the game’s ultimate happening and made Pete Dye’s oceanfront layout famous.
The week of Nov. 13-16, 2003, I was at the Ocean Course when South Africa’s Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman won over England’s Paul Casey and Justin Rose. All week, the tournament had been overshadowed by rumors Kiawah was bidding to host a major, something South Carolina had never done.
During post-round questions for the players, the topic of a major came up. That’s when Casey put himself (and Warren) in an unexpected spotlight.
Asked about Kiawah as a host, Casey nonchalantly piped up (paraphrasing here), “Well, Roger told us the PGA Championship is coming here …” Soon afterward, Warren – just months after coming from Illinois, where he’d been that state’s 1998 PGA Golf Professional of the Year – was fielding questions, and offering noncommittal answers.
Two years later, during Kiawah’s staging of the PGA Club Professional Championship, Warren, then-Gov. Mark Sanford and others confirmed the Ocean Course would host the 2007 Senior PGA Championship. That in turn would be a test run for 2012’s staging of “Glory’s Last Shot,” the PGA Championship motto as the final major each year before 2019, when it moved from August to May.
Last week, asked about Casey’s “big reveal” in 2003, Warren laughed. “Honestly, I do not remember that,” he said. “I’m surprised (by recollection of Casey’s remarks) because at that point. I don’t think we had started discussions.”
Even if they had, in 2003 Warren was vice president of the PGA of America, and “as an officer, I would’ve had a conflict of interest.” So, he said, “I wasn’t involved in the decision.” When the Senior PGA was on the ballot, Warren – by then the PGA president – similarly recused himself.
Not that a major had never crossed his mind.
“When I first got the job, (Kiawah Resort owner) Bill Goodwin expressed a strong interest in getting the PGA,” Warren said. “In early conversations, those who’d been there during the Ryder Cup (notably Ocean Course director of golf Brian Gerard) had had a taste of a major event, and they wanted another big tournament.”
Goodwin helped drive the quest, too.
“When you own a golf course the caliber of the Ocean Course, and love golf like Bill does, pride of ownership is a motivator,” Warren said. “Business was a motivator, too, a big driver of our success as a resort. When people come, have an unforgettable experience … that’s a great marketing tool.”
Questions immediately arose, Warren said. “How do we overcome the challenges of the site, getting people to and from the golf course?”
At the time, only two-lane Main Road connected the island with Charleston. A successful 2007 Senior PGA, with its smaller attendance, hadn’t revealed all the problems that might (and in some cases did) arise in 2012.
Still, Warren said, “History will show it worked out well for everyone.” That includes the man who helped make it happen.
Mention the name “Roger Warren” today to the PGA of America’s membership, and two things stand out. First is his leadership in making Kiawah one of the world’s premier vacation golf destinations; second is his role in bringing the PGA Championship to South Carolina.
Not just once, but two and soon, three times. In 2031, the PGA will return to the Ocean Course. Warren figures that one could be the best ever, and he figures to be a part of that week, albeit in a different capacity.
“I did think about (staying as president through) 2031, or making it to 25 years,” he said. “But those would be artificial goals. It (stepping away now) felt like the right time. I love what I’ve been doing, and maybe I’ll have the opportunity to continue working on projects on a consulting basis, not full-time, doing other things I’m also interested in.”
He laughed. “I’m 76, I feel great, I’ve had a great life (but) it’s time to make that transition.”
Whatever he’s doing in 2031, Warren will be able to offer perspectives from the 2012 and 2021 PGA Championships’ success. That said, it didn’t hurt that both became historic achievements, on the golf course and off.
The 2012 tournament is remembered as the second major championship for a young Rory McIlroy, who in 2025 completed the sixth “Grand Slam” of majors. Less exciting were traffic issues on roads from Charleston, overflow crowds on the narrow layout, plus torrential rains on Saturday that turned parking areas into muddy quagmires.
Sunday’s weather was beautiful and the golf was exciting, but for some, the public relations damage had been done.
Still, the PGA was impressed enough to try again in 2021. “The golf course was a stern test. Rory won by eight (shots) but only a few players were under par,” Warren said. “The golf course is the star, the justification for holding a major, and we only saw it getting better.”
Warren says the lessons learned improved the 2021 PGA. Parking lots were upgraded and will continue to be improved, with paving added.
It didn’t hurt that year, either, that the PGA was the first major after Covid-19 to allow spectators. About 10,000 fans per day watched Phil Mickelson, age 50 years and 11 months, become the oldest major winner ever.
“A third or two-thirds of what we had in 2012,” Warren said.
The closing scene still resonates with Warren. “(Sunday) at the 18th hole, fans came through the gallery ropes and were 30-40 deep around the green,” he said. “That was an indication that golf was back. Fans were so excited to be at an event, and it was like taking a big breath and letting it out — we feel good now.”
Since Covid, golf nationally has enjoyed a boom with new courses being built (more than a dozen in South Carolina, after a decade of no new construction) and tee sheets bulging with recreational players. Five years from now, Warren expects that to have continued.
“You see kids like (recent 3M Open winner) Jackson Koivun at 21, his maturity level,” said Warren, who has his own story from 14 years ago.
“I was coaching the Junior Ryder Cup team and got to pick the last three (U.S.) players. Randy Smith, a friend and decorated golf coach, suggested a 16-year-old I’d never heard of. He said, ‘This kid will surprise you, a great teammate.’”
That was Scottie Scheffler, now the world’s No. 1 player.
As for the Ocean Course in 2031, “we don’t need to repair or solve any problems,” Warren said. “(Preparing) is a three-year process, but I don’t think we have any big things we need to do. Just live up to the prior reputation, and do it a little bit better.”
Will Warren be part of that in 2031? “I’m not planning to leave the area, and if asked, I’d be glad to participate,” he said. “This place has been the peak of my career, and I want to see it grow and get better.”
Warren’s been part of the PGA Championship at Kiawah from the beginning, and even before. It only seems fitting to be there for Chapter Three.